The Bruins need to do something Vladimir Sobotka would do when they take the TD Garden ice down 1-0 in the best-of-seven series.

Let me set the scene again. It was one year ago, the Bruins were down 1-0 in their first-round series with Buffalo. Eventual Vezina Trophy winner Ryan Miller beat Boston, 2-1, in Game 1 despite a 24-8 shots edge by the Bruins in the second period.

The talk afterward in the Bruins’ dressing room was not enough traffic in front of the goal. It took just six minutes, 56 seconds of action in Game 2 for Sobotka to make something happen. He never revealed whether he meant to take a penalty, but he went hard to the net and crashed into Ryan Miller. The goalie interference penalty put them shorthanded. But the Bruins killed off the penalty and were in Miller’s face almost the entire rest of the series. They won that game 5-2 and the series 4-2.

All it took was a little Sobotka spark.

“Vladi did what he thought would be best for the team. There’s other ways too, but we’ll see what’s going to happen,” said center David Krejci, Sobotka’s good friend.

So now the comments are all the same, except in the aftermath of their Game 1 loss to Montreal Thursday night the Bruins are inserting Carey Price’s name where Miller’s once was. Let’s face it, there were hardly any shots that Price didn’t see en route to his 31-save shutout (shots were 18-6 Boston in the second period this time). Practice today stressed battling in the corners and in front of the goal, even though head coach Claude Julien called net-front more of a “mindset.” That mindset can include not worrying too much about sensitive officiating.

“You’re allowed to be in front as much as you want, as long as you’re not in the crease and you’re not interfering with the goaltender,” said the coach. “That’s something you see every year in the playoffs. All teams do that. I don’t think we’re looking to do anything different than any other team, but we need to do it better.”

Sobotka is now property of the non-playoff St. Louis Blues, but it might take a Sobotka-like action to get everyone’s juices flowing in Boston Saturday.

“That’s a really hard question. I’m not going to say that we’re trying to run the goalie,” said Krejci. “I hope we don’t have to go to the point that we have to do stuff like that. We have a strong enough team and it’s going to be hard to keep us off the score sheet in the two games.”

Obviously it doesn’t have to be a goaltender interference call that turns the tide of this season. However, the act could be something requiring just as much physicality and determination.

Is there a man among them with the guts to get in Price’s face? Or maybe there’s someone to just make a similarly heroic play?

Daniel Paille doesn’t necessarily think a Bruins player has to get up in Price’s grill to inspire the team and he believes that inspiration could come from anywhere in the lineup.

“You’ve got a guy like Vladi, he sparked us up. It could be anybody here,” said the fourth-line winger. “I know each one of us wants to step up and we have to show it tomorrow. Who does it? Who knows? But everyone wants to.”

“Whether it’s a big hit or a big block,” he continued, “or a huge goal, or something like that, it’s definitely something that we want to generate to give us that spark.”

A wise songwriter once wrote that you can’t start a fire without a spark. A courageous Czech center once risked his health to make life miserable for an Olympic goaltender. If the Bruins are going to burn Montreal in Game 2, one or more black-and-gold-wearing individuals are going to have to go that extra mile to make a valiant, maybe even risky, play.

On a previous post I wrote that Jorges was the one D that could have dealt with Louch best. Tom, which it is reasonable to assume he’s a Bruins fans, replied that Bergeron had one punch dropped Jorges.

Vlad ran Miller. Is that really what you’re suggesting happen tonight?
You guys didn’t run price when it was 7-0 at the end of the season. Just play the game and leave suggestions of deliberately hitting the goalie in the trash…

Stop making assumptions about the Boston fan base. I’m sure in real life, you’re not a short-sighted ignoramus… but you’re acting like one on here. Don’t insult my intelligence, or the intelligence of others from this city who love the game.

Also, MattK has said himself he’s not a Bruins fan, he’s a Bruins follower… his rhetoric here is obviously commenting on the need for the Bruins to up their level of intensity, as nobody should want to see Price hurt or to incite violence.

But I know shot after shot after shot my daughter and I commented that Price had too good a look at the shot or there wasn’t a screen or some other comment that indicated the shot was taken and easily stopped.

Where was Recchi-the guy who makes a living off parking his fireplug size body in front of the goalie? Our guys need to move in front of the net, block Price’s vision and reek havoc in front of the net. They can do that without taking any penalties, but they didn’t even seem to be trying on Thursday.

@MattK, I don’t get it. Unruly means suck don’t they? If that’s what you’re asking for I think it’s sad. Crowding the net is on every chalkboard. Asking the team to run the goalie over is medieval and it only emphasizes the collective drooling for violence the B’s crowd feeds on. Bad Post Matt. It will generate a lot of clicks on your blog though. Good for business I guess. Loudest sigh ever should be heard by many upon reading your post.

And BTW, it’s only one game and the whole Bruins entourage is on the panik mode already. Nothing to loosen that stick grip.

def was sad to see Vladdy go. at the time i saw it to be a cap casualty or because they were loaded up the middle. but was it really that? was he really going to price himself out of the B’s range? i’d rather have him wingin’ the 3rd/4th line than paille or ryder (altho i know ryder wasn’t moveable). He may not have always played as smart as he could’ve, but he played hard and seemed to have just a bit of everything to offer.

getting back to NOW, its a good point made by Matt. IMO they played better than MTL last night, but they need a spark. Can’t let the Smurfs intimidate em.